I was doing some work in the lab, and one of my coworkers had the radio onto some music station I had little interest in so I kinda tuned it out. Suddenly I heard an ad with a Ben Franklin impersonator talking about Freemasonry.
Turns out the Masons are advertising.
OK I have several family members and more than a few friends who a members of the Masons. I even thought briefly about joining, and decided it wasn’t really my speed. My Great Grandfather had a Masonic funeral, which was VERY cool. So overall I never really got that whole “Secret Society” nonsense.
Still hearing a radio ad, and a website for the Masons has all the buzz-kill for the outsiders with overactive imaginations as hearing that the Illuminati advertising in the newspaper.
Kinda hard to be “Secret Society” when they start painting it on billboards and city buses!
Also states that maybe the Masonic membership is in decline. So maybe if you’re curious you should ask a Mason.
But the Illuminati HAVE been advertising for years! Haven’t you seen the “Hope and Change” signs?
LOL!
As a Mason I have to say we are not a secret society but a society with secrets. . . . You can’t call us a secret society when we mark our buildings, tell you our meeting times, and run huge hospitals and such. . . not exactly underground stuff.. . .
that being said memebership is growing in my area thanks to the National Treasure movies and the Dan Brown books we got a lot of press. Some areas are not seeing the growth and the idea is to keep our name out there so folks know we are around.
Good to hear.
Yeah, I’m more amused at the silly fiction of “New World Order” and other such conspiracy theories, than I take ANY credits about it. I know far too many Masons, and like you said, know of far too many Masonic Temples and Lodges, not to mention all the great stuff done by the Shiners for me not to have heard SOMETHING shadowy.
Plus I think that might be part of the selling points of membership 😉
Who controls the British crown?
Who keeps the metric system down?
We do! We do!
Who leaves Atlantis off the maps?
Who keeps the Martians under wraps?
We do! We do!
Who holds back the electric car?
Who makes Steve Gutenberg a star?
We do! We do!
Who robs cave fish of their sight?
Who rigs every Oscar night?
We do! We do!
LOL!
I lost it on Steve Gutenberg!
It’s a Simspons quote, btw.
I’m not that clever, I can only do the Standard Mischief.
youtube.com/watch?v=dSpOjj4YD8c
LOL I must have missed that one! Awesome!
JD is right. There’s only three secrets, the ritual, obligation, and modes of recognition. Being in a college town helps our little lodge. Though we also have a large fallout from students moving off.
We are nothing more than a society with secrets. Even the lodge minutes are available to the public, though that doesn’t stop conspiracy theorists. My father and grandfather were both masons. I’m closing in on 10 years now. I wasn’t too active at the beginning while I was in school but I’ve become much more active since graduation.
JD those books and movies have actually been quite helpful just about anywhere. I know some disliked them, but it just goes to show the only bad publicity is no publicity. (Honestly neither had anything bad about Masonry, though some would argue otherwise.)
If you have any questions Weer’d feel free to ask.
B
I never heard anything negitive about them at lodge. Personally I loved the movies and the book was not too bad either. . . and funny at parts since I knew what he got right and what he didn’t = )
And I second Barron, if you have a question let me know, I will answer if I can.
Barron, glad to hear your lodge is doing well Brother, and thanks, many Masons made at your lodge hopefully stay active wherever they move to. . .
I know we have had a decent number continue to be active. One actually is moving through the line in a huge lodge in LA. He actually comes up at least once a year to renew the tabs on his car so he can have his WSU (Cougar) license plate.
I’m glad you’re seeing a decent number come in as well. It also helps that here we have an Acacia house on campus again.
I was in Rainbow Girls (the boys’ equivalent is called Demolay) all through high school and actually held a state office. The nuns at my Catholic HS would have had a fit if they knew. Unfortunately, the membership requirement for Eastern Star (the Women’s arm) is (or was at the time) that you had to be the wife or daughter of a Master Mason to join. You could become a Rainbow Girl by being a friend of a Rainbow Girl but you could not join Eastern Star. Maybe that’s changed if they’re looking for members? OTOH, I’ve also heard that Women can straight up join Masons now, so maybe that’s something to think about.
No regular lodge admits women into it’s membership. Any lodge that claims to is not going to be recognized by the Grand Lodge of the jurisdiction and the concordant bodies (Eastern Star, Amaranth, Daughters of the Nile, etc.) will not recognize the membership. Not only that, they will NOT converse masonically with you. Sorry to be a kill joy, but there is a difference between regular and irregular and it’s pretty freaking big.
My sister was active in Jobs Daughter’s and had numerous friends active in Rainbow. As for joining Eastern Star, you should just have to show a relationship to a Mason. I don’t think that it has to be a direct relationship. I’ll email my mom who’s more active in Amaranth and see what information she has on it.
Barron and JD are correct. I’m a 5th generation mason, and proud of it. Our lodge is over 150 years old, and while we have lost members, it’s still a viable lodge with almost 100 members.
I actually just sat here and thought about it. I feel bad, I’m actually a 4th generation mason. I forgot about my great grandfather.
One thing I’ve noticed among the circles I travel in. I find Eagle Scouts and Masons all over the place. I guess NFO if I make it out to your area I’ll need to time it for when the lodges aren’t dark.
Interesting side note: Two of my scoutmasters were actually Masons as well which makes sense since Lord Baden Powell was a mason. Which makes the trail sign for gone home a more interesting note. It is visible on his grave.
After some cable channel- maybe the Hitlery Channel- had another ‘The Freemasons are secretly running things!’ show, one of the Masons I know said “If we’re actually running things, when do I get my cut? I want my cash, dammit!”